Frozen Olaf Salt Dough Ornament

This was my first attempt at salt dough ornaments and I LOVED them! They are so easy to make and the ingredients are items you probably already have in your pantry. For our first salt dough ornament we chose to do our favorite footprint version of Olaf from Disney’s Frozen! To do this super easy Christmas craft all you need are the following:

Frozen Ornament Kids Craft

First you’ll combine your salt and flour in a bowl and slowly add in the water. Continue until it is dough light and not too sticky. If the dough is too dry you can add more water. After kneading the dough you’ll flatten it out with a rolling pin. The kids love helping with this part! Next have your child place their foot in the dough. I cut out circles big enough for their foot and sat them in baking sheets lined with parchment paper so they could do this step a little easier. Next you can trace around their footprint leaving a little border around the print so that you have enough room for the hands to be painted on. Poke a hole through the top so that you can hang them when your done and bake these for two to three hours at around 100 degrees C/ 200 F. If your ornament is thick you may need to turn it over while it’s cooking.

Once these are done and they’ve cooled for a few hours you can start painting! Using acrylic paint you’ll paint the footprint white and add little cheeks to give it that olaf look! I added in a blue border and to make the eyes and mouth, I found the easiest way was to use permanent marker.

Add a festive Christmas bow and it’s ready to hang on your Christmas tree! We had a few readers leave us some awesome tips to make these ornaments last! Spray with a waterproof sealant and keep in ziplock bag.

Love this adorable holiday craft? Make sure to pin it and follow me on Pinterest for more fun kids crafts and activities!

I was wondering if I was going to have to borrow a baby.My youngest grandchild is 10.I don’t want the ornaments to take up the whole tree.Have you taken a picture of the one with your daughter’s footprint?

I was thinking of making a set of my whole family (6 of us) and hanging them on the wall during the holidays. We have some pretty big feet in the family & a tree would never support them, but my wall can.

It’s going to be baked and painted. I cannot imagine it making a difference. The one in the picture isn’t white, so I’m suspecting that she used whole wheat flour. Could even be done with rye or something else, I imagine.

I did something similar without having a oven. I suggest you make them one day and take them home to bake them.Then they paint them the next day. It breaks up the project and they can’t wait to see how their foot turned out after being baked.

A lot of sites say 200 degrees, but I have also read that it is best to bake these at the lowest temp your oven will go, most likely 170 degrees. Ideally air drying is the way to go, but the disadvantage is it takes up more time. The reasoning behind the higher temp versus lower I believe is helping to eliminate air bubbles.

Hi Danny, while your adding the water to the mixture make sure to add it slowly until it appears dough like and not too sticky there should be no residue on your hands when you touch it. You can try adding in more flour while you knead the dough. And maybe a little bit on your childs foot incase your dough is still coming out a little sticky.

My grand daughter went haywire when she saw this…so we tried it. After I baked it for 3 hours, I let it cool for 30 min and painted the white base coat. I noticed that the white paint cracked after it dried, any suggestions? Other than that, the project is great and you instructions very clear.

Hi Jackie
Your website is beautiful! I just did a post called “10 Fantastic Frugal DIY Christmas Decor Ideas” and I featured your adorable “Olaf” ornaments. Thought you might be interested in seeing it! If you enjoy, feel free to share!

[…] Why the obsession? I don’t know! Maybe it’s the blue and purple glitter that pulls in little girls. I personally think that the goofy snowman Olaf might have been involved. It doesn’t really matter why. The fact is, the way to break the internet is not via Kim Kardashian’s methods. It’s by posting anything Frozen. […]

[…] able to see them on trees and observing as Lily’s art skills mature. This first idea, an Olaf ornament, is the perfect pairing of Frozen and keepsake. Having an ornament that will chronicle pop culture […]